U.S. stocks enjoyed a strong surge toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 1.8% on Friday.
The Dow traded up 0.49% to 38,705.29 while the NASDAQ rose 1.81% to 15,639.81. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining 1.20% to 4,965.03.
Market Momentum: Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communication services shares experienced a healthy rise of 4.1% on Friday.
In contrast, real estate shares witnessed a decline of 1.9% in trading on the same day.
Amazon Earnings: Exceeding Expectations
Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN reported robust financial results for its fourth quarter.
The company confidently forecasts first-quarter revenue to be between $138 billion and $143.5 billion, surpassing prior estimates of $142.13 billion. Operating income is projected to range from $8 billion to $12 billion in the first quarter.
Equities Trading UP
Shares of Intelligent Bio Solutions Inc. INBS soared by an impressive 101% to $4.84.
Additionally, Tyra Biosciences, Inc. TYRA enjoyed a substantial 24% surge to $16.19 after announcing a $200 million private placement financing.
Meta Platforms, Inc. META also witnessed a notable upward trend, gaining 21% to $476.91 as the company disclosed upbeat fourth-quarter financial results and initiated a quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share.
Equities Trading DOWN
On the flip side, Cingulate Inc. CING experienced a significant 53% drop to $1.59 following the pricing of a $7.5 million public offering of 3.750 million shares at $2.00 per share.
Atlassian Corporation TEAM saw a downturn of 16% to $215.05 after reporting second-quarter financial results.
GRI Bio, Inc. GRI fell by 23% to $1.50 after announcing the pricing of a $5.5 million public offering.
Commodities Performance
In commodity news, oil witnessed a decline of 2% to $72.37, while gold experienced a 0.9% decrease, trading at $2,053.40.
Silver also declined by 2.1% to $22.75 on Friday, with copper falling 0.8% to $3.8220.
Euro Zone and Asia Pacific Markets
European shares predominantly closed higher, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 gaining 0.01%. The German DAX rose 0.35%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.05%. The UK’s FTSE 100, however, fell 0.09%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.48% and 0.09% respectively.
In Asia, markets closed with mixed results on Friday, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.41%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.21%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.46%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.61%.
Economic Indicators
Non-farm payrolls exhibited robust growth, increasing by 353,000 in January, surpassing expectations and contributing to a steady unemployment rate of 3.7%, below the expected 3.8%.
Average hourly earnings demonstrated a 0.6% surge for the month, New orders for US-manufactured goods rose by 0.2% month-over-month in December, and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index climbed to 79 in January.